Important information
Opening of the 33rd Slovenian Music Days
A ballet evening dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of the National Theatre Opera in Ljubljana
BALLET 100
Music director and conductor: Marko Gašperšič
Set designer: Atej Tutta
Costume designer: Leo Kulaš
Lighting designer: Andrej Hajdinjak
Corps de ballet and orchestra of the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana
Soloists: Giorgia Vailati, Kenta Yamamoto, Tjaša Kmetec, Lukas Zuschlag, Petar Đorčevski, Rita Pollacchi, Owen Lane, Richel Wieles, Hugo Mbeng, Marin Ino, Nina Noč
Programme:
The Bow, a Dance Poem
Choreographers: Pia and Pino Mlakar
Choreography adapted by: Olga Andreeva, Tomo and Dušanka Mlakar
The Wire
Music: Janez Gregorc
Choreographer: Vlasto Dedović
Choreography adapted by: Mateja Rebolj
The Pastoral Symphony
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven
Choreographer: Milko Šparemblek
The focus of the 33rd edition of the Slovene Music Days is musical theatre. The festival also coincides with an important jubilee, namely the centenary of the founding of Ljubljana’s opera and ballet company. The programme of performances therefore includes several works from the operatic repertoire and also incorporates the world of dance. With the premiere performance of a triptych of ballets, the opening evening aims to shine a spotlight on some of the choreographers who have artistically enriched Slovene ballet in the past. Dance has developed from the earliest prehistoric forms of rhythmic movement of the body in imitation of animals, dancing in a circle, and performance of religious and other ceremonies, via the first “ballets” in the late fifteenth century, when a new era of professional dancing began, to an artistic form of expression through the conscious articulation of the body in close connection with music and, on an even higher plane, with the transcendental world. “There is something religious in dance, something that connects you to the entire cosmos”, to use the words of Pino Mlakar (1907–2006). This Slovene ballet dancer and choreographer enjoyed a European reputation and, together with Pia Mlakar (1910–2000), left an indelible mark on Slovene ballet. Partners in dance and in life, they took over the artistic direction of the Ljubljana Ballet in 1946 and remained active members of the company for two decades. The pinnacle of their work as choreographers is their original creation The Bow, a “dance poem” from 1937 consisting of three parts: Youth, Love, Maturity. In it two dancers, one female and one male, dance a pas de deux of sensitive intimacy and conjure up an image of a bridge between the male and female worlds. Vlasto Dedović (1934–2013) worked at the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Ljubljana for 35 years, interpreting and creating Slovene ballet together with numerous representatives of other artistic genres. His debut piece The Wire (1976) came about as a collaboration with the fine artist Jože Spacal (b. 1939) and the composer Janez Gregorc (1934–2012). The latter won a Prešeren Fund Prize for his music for this ballet. Milko Šparemblek (born 1928) is a cosmopolitan figure from the world of ballet who has enjoyed a remarkably distinguished career as a choreographer. In 1986 he created The Pastoral Symphony for the Ljubljana ballet company, a setting of the famous Symphony No 6 in F major by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827). A significant slice of Slovenia’s ballet heritage will be presented through these three works. The choreography of the first two works has been adapted by Maruša and Vojko Vidmar (The Bow) and Mateja Rebolj (The Wire). The musicians will be conducted by Marko Gašperčič, a long-serving conductor with the Slovene National Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana, in his last appearance before his retirement.
Helena Filipčič Gardina
